Game



Patented Apr. 30, 1940 a UNITED} STATES II AME Clarence A. .Watkins,Forest Hills, N. Y. Application September 22. 1938, Serial No. 231,118

5 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved game apparatus, and relates morespecifically to a novel game of skill which is capable-of being playedby two or more persons.

One of the principal objects of the present invention is the provisionof a game apparatus comprising a board, preferably having a geographicalarea marked thereon, and various points of interest in such area beingsuitably marked by numerical designations.

The game may be played either with moving pieces which are movedprogressively over the area, or it may be played by means of placingmovable pieces having numerical designations thereon which areequivalent to the numbers of the geographical areas which the playersremove from the playing board'as the game progresses. Movement of thepieces or removal thereoffrom the board is controlled by means of anovel indicating device, which is actuated by the individual players andwhich requires a high order of skill in order to secure the desiredresult.

This portion of the game includes a rotating or traveling member whichis mounted on a horizontal and slightly inclined rail, the rail beingmounted on a base member which may be moved to a position which isconvenient foreach'successive player. Adjacent to one end of the basememberthere are positioned a plurality of spaced graduations and theeffort of the player is to set the rotating or traveling member inmotion and endeavor to cause same to stop opposite one of the morefavorable graduations. The rotating member is so constructed as torequire a relatively high order of skill on the part of the player inorder to make appreciable progress in the playing of the game.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a novel gameapparatus provided with a manually actuated traveling member which issuccessively operated by the individual players for enabling suchplayers to build up their scores in the game, such apparatus beingcapable of use in a variety of games of skill as well as the games de- 5scribed herein.

In the drawing: Fig. 1 is a plan view of the playing board with theinclined rail position thereon; a Fig. 2 is a side elevation of theinclined rail with 50 the traveling member in starting position;

Fig. 3 shows a detailed view of the traveling member; and

Fig. 4 is a plan view of one of the movable pieces.

65 Referring now more specifically to the drawing,

Fig. 1 illustrates the playing board which is provided with a map I0having representations of any suitable kind thereon, the map illustratedin the drawing being a representation of the geographical area withinthe vicinity, of the New York Worlds Fair. It is to be understood, of

1 course, that the invention is not to be limited to any specificrepresentation of this character. On this map various geographical areas9 are indicated, each of such areas having therein a numericaldesignation.

A plan view of the novel device for building scores is illustrated inFig. 1 and is designated generally by the reference numeral II. Thisdevice is movable about the playing board and includes an elongated basemember l3 having upright supports I5 and I6 at opposite ends thereofupon which are mounted the terminals of a rail ll, the rotatable ortraveling member l2 being mounted on said rail.

In order to facilitate the movement of the traveling member l2, the railis slightly downwardly inclined from the starting position of themember, as illustrated in Fig. 2. On the upper surface of the rail I!there is formed a plurality of spaced concave recesses 20 which have aslight deterrent action to the member l2 as it rolls along the rail, andwhen the member finally. comes to rest it resides in one of suchrecesses. Below each of these recesses a numeral l4 indicating the scoreobtained by each play is positioned, transverse lines [4' separating thenumerals.

A more detailed view of the traveling member is shown in Fig.3. Mountedupon a shaft 22 are two metal discs23 and 24 of substantial thickness,each of which is fixed in position either by a drive fit or a set screwarrangement. One end of the shaft extends some distance beyond" the disc23 and on its extremity is mounted a knurled knob 25 to be grasped bythe fingers and spun around to give propelling force to the device.Betweenthe two wheels is mounted a hub 2| concentric with the shaft butfree to turn upon it. At the ends of the hub 2| are flanges 26 and 2'!which keep the device aligned withthe rail l1 and also provide frictionwith the side faces of the discs 23 and 24 which communicate power tothe hub and causes it to movealong the rail.

As previously stated, the present game may be played in a variety ofways, one of which is to have the players place the movable pieces uponthe numerically indicated areas and successively move such pieces fromplace to place in numerical order until one player has reached thefinish. These movable pieces may take any conventional form, the disk 30illustrated in Fig. 4 and having a numerical designation thereon beingone of such forms.

In the embodiment illustrated, the numbers run from 1 to 9 and then to25 and each player places his movable piece upon one of the areas marked1 at the start of the game. The traveling member and support are thenmoved on the playing board to a position convenient to the first playerwho spins the traveling member, the object being to obtain 25 pointsbefore moving his chip to the next successive area. In the event thatsuch player causes the traveling member to stop adjacent to the areamarked 25 on the base i3 in the first spin, he then moves his piece.

In the event, however, that he obtains a lesser number of points in thefirst spin, he is permitted a second spin, and then in the event that hehas not obtained 25, he passes the traveling member to the next playerand retains his score for the next play. If, however, on such next playhe'obtains a score in excess of 25, he may neverthelcss move his pieceand retain the balance above 25 for his next play. The traveling memberis thus moved from player toplayer, each player having two spins, andthe first player moving his piece from 1 through 9 and then to 2.5 isthe winner of the game.

When played in this fashion only as many movable pieces are employed asthere are players in the game, and each player identifies his movablepiece by the number thereon. In the event, however, that the game is tobe played by removing pieces from the board, a plurality of pieceshaving similar numerical designations thereon are placed upon each ofthe areas numbered from 1 to 9 and 25, and each player is given one spinof the traveling member. When the traveling member comes to rest, thedisk corresponding to the number on the base member i3 is removed by theplayer, and as soon as all of the pieces have been removed from theboard, the player having the highest score calculated by the totalaggregate numbers on the pieces which he has removed from the board isthe winner of the game. It will be appreciated that the traveling memberand the support therefor may also be used in a variety of other gameswherein the successive players are building a score.

What I claim is:

1. A game apparatus comprising a traveling member adapted to be set inmotion by a player and means for supporting such member during itsmovement, the traveling member comprising a shaft, 2. pair of discsmounted on such shaft in spaced relation, and a hub mounted on the shaftbetween such discs, and a finger-engaging portion at one end of theshaft adapted to be grasped by the player and twirled to impart mo tionto the member, the supporting'means comprising a base and a rail mountedaboveand spaced from the base, the hub adapted to ride upon the upperedge of said rail.

2. A game apparatus comprising a traveling member adapted to be set inmotion by a player and means for supporting such member during itsmovement, the traveling member comprising a shaft, a pair of discsmounted on such shaft in spaced relation, and a hub mounted on the shaftbetween such discs, and a finger-engaging portion at one end of theshaft adapted to be grasped by the playerand twirled toimpart motion tothe member, the supporting means comprising a base and a rail mountedabove and spaced from the base, the hub adapted to ride upon the upperedge of said rail, the base being provided with a plurality of spacedareas marked thereon and numerical designations in said areas toindicate scores when the traveling member comes to rest, the rail havinga plurality of spaced recesses on the upper surface thereof and adaptedto receivethe hub when the member comes to rest.

3. A game apparatus comprising a traveling member adapted to be set inmotion by a player and means for supporting such member during itsmovement, the traveling member comprising a shaft, a pair of discssecured to the shaft in spaced relation, and a hub mounted on the shaftbetween such discs and being free to rotate thereon, and a thumb turnportion at one end of the shaft adapted to be grasped by the player andtwirled to impart motion to the member, the supporting means comprisinga base and an inclined rail mounted above and spaced from the base,the'hub adapted to ride upon the upper edge of said rail.

4. In a game having a game board provided with a plurality of numberedareas marked thereon, the improvement which comprises a traveling memberand an elongated support therefor, the traveling member comprising ashaft, a pair of discs mounted thereon in spaced relation, and a thumbturn portion at one end of the shaft, the support comprising ahorizontal rail, a base mem ber and means for mounting the rail inspaced relation to the base member, the portion of the shaft betweendiscs being adapted to ride upon the rail when the shaft is manually setin motion.

5. In a game having a game board provided with a plurality of numberedareas marked thereon, the improvement which comprises a traveling memberand an elongated support therefor, the traveling member comprising ashaft adapted to .ride' upon the elongated support when manually rotatedand thumb turn means on the shaft for permitting the starting ofrotation, the support comprising a horizontal rail, a base member andmeans for mounting the rail in spaced relation to the base member, thebase portion being provided with a plurality of numbered areas todesignate the point at which the traveling member ceases its motion.

CLARENCE A. WATKINS.

